This weekend, Michigan’s poet laureate will speak at a couple of public events in the Capital Region.
Melba Joyce Boyd will speak Friday at the East Lansing Public Library at 7 p.m., and Saturday at the Library of Michigan, starting at 10 a.m.
WKAR's Scott Pohl spoke with Boyd about the events and her poetry.
Interview Highlights
On poetry readings
I never really know ahead of time what I'm going to read. But I also like to read at least one poem by another Michigan poet who is no longer with us, just as a point of educating the audience and also making a point that we should be very appreciative of our very rich literary history in the state.
On her poem "It Could Have Been Me"
The poem ... is a poem I wrote some years ago in response to the death of Trayvon Martin, a young man in Florida who was killed, just a really, really bizarre and unfortunate situation. His assailant was acquitted of all charges. And I was so overwhelmed that he was acquitted, because I could not believe the evidence was so overwhelming. And so, what I do oftentimes is in those instances, I have to write it out, and the title is taken from a statement that President Barack Obama made. So, the poem is entitled "It Could Have Been Me."
Interview Transcript
Scott Pohl: With Inside the Arts, I'm Scott Pohl. This weekend, Michigan’s poet laureate will speak at a couple of public events in the Capital Region.
For WKAR's Inside the Arts, I spoke with Melba Joyce Boyd.
Let's start by asking you about your visit to the East Lansing Public Library on Friday the 14th. What are your plans for that event?
Melba Joyce Boyd: Well, it's my understanding I'll be reading with other Lansing poets. I know it'll be the standard kind of fare, and we'll all read our various selections, and I never really know ahead of time what I'm going to read. But I also like to read at least one poem by another Michigan poet who is no longer with us, just as a point of educating the audience and also making a point that we should be very appreciative of our very rich literary history in the state.
Pohl: Have you made a choice for that yet, which poet you'll read?
Boyd: Actually, no, I have not. Actually, I was working on a poem for inclusion in my next book, which was a poem I wrote for Naomi Long Madgett, who was a Detroit poet laureate for many years and was an English professor at Eastern Michigan University, and one of my mentors.
So, it's a good chance that I will read that piece. It's a tribute piece to her. She was a champion of the arts in Michigan and one of my mentors. So, I probably will read the Naomi poem, and now that I’ve talked about it, I'm sure I will.
Pohl: You mentioned mentoring, and that's kind of what I gather you'll be going to be doing on Saturday with the Lansing Poetry Club. Tell me about that.
Boyd: Well, I pretty much let the group, whether it's students or it's a club or whatever, I let them take the lead, and then I sort of respond. Sometimes they're interested in me talking about my various experiences, motivations, strategies for writing, strategies for getting published, for example, and they may want to read some of their own pieces for me to listen and respond to.
Pohl: We're talking with Michigan Poet Laureate Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd, and often, when we talk with the Lansing Poet Laureate, Ruelaine Stokes, we ask her to read us a poem, and I've asked you to do the same thing. So, tell me about the poem you've chosen.
Boyd: The poem that I'm about to read is a poem I wrote some years ago in response to the death of Trayvon Martin, a young man in Florida who was killed, just a really, really bizarre and unfortunate situation. His assailant was acquitted of all charges. And I was so overwhelmed that he was acquitted, because I could not believe the evidence was so overwhelming. And so, what I do oftentimes is in those instances, I have to write it out, and the title is taken from a statement that President Barack Obama made. So, the poem is entitled "It Could Have Been Me."
Pohl: Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd with "It Could Have Been Me:"
“It Could Have Been Me”
“If I had a son,
he would look
like Trayvon,”
President
Obama said.
He is handsome.
skin the color of
coffee, cream
and cinnamon.
slight of build,
with a physique
yet to become,
Trayvon is
shrouded under
hooded myths
and shadows
of white guilt.
grasping for fists,
armed with
a package
of rainbow-
colored candy,
he is stalked
while striding
across grounds
of a gated
compound;
targeted by
imaginary fears,
enforcing
Americanism.
How does Trayvon
stand his ground
when he steps
beyond borders
of the reservation?
How do you
walk away
from death
aimed at
your back?
What can a
Black boy do
when The Man
with a gun
comes?
“It could have
been me,”
the President
said.
“It could have
been me...”
Pohl: Dr. Melba Joyce Boyd, an honor to talk with you. Thank you.
Boyd: Thank you.
Pohl: With Inside The Arts, I'm Scott Pohl.
Other Arts Happenings
The Arts Council of Greater Lansing is accepting applications for Lansing’s next poet laureate through February 16.
